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Obesity - Australia's biggest public health challenge

07 Nov 2016

AMA Position Statement on Obesity 2016

AMA President, Dr Michael Gannon, said today that obesity is the biggest public health challenge facing the Australian population, and called on the Federal Government to take national leadership in implementing a multi-faceted strategy to address the serious health threat that obesity poses to individuals, families, and communities across the nation.

Releasing the AMA’s revised and updated Position Statement on Obesity 2016, Dr Gannon said that combating obesity demands a whole-of-society approach.

“The AMA strongly recommends that the national strategy include a sugar tax; stronger controls on junk food advertising, especially to children; improved nutritional literacy; healthy work environments; and more and better walking paths and cycling paths as part of smarter urban planning,” Dr Gannon said.

“A national obesity strategy requires the participation of all governments, non-government organisations, the health and food industries, the media, employers, schools, and community organisations.

“The whole-of-society strategy must be coordinated at a national level by the Federal Government and must be based on specific national goals and targets for reducing obesity and its numerous health effects.

“More than half of all adult Australians have a body weight that puts their health at risk. More than 60 per cent of adults are either overweight or obese, and almost 10 per cent are severely obese.

“At least a quarter of Australian children and adolescents are overweight or obese.

“Around 70 per cent of people who are obese have at least one established health condition, illness, or disease, which can increase the cost of their health care by at least 30 per cent.

“Obesity was conservatively estimated in 2011-12 to cost Australian society $8.6 billion a year in health costs and lost productivity. More recent studies have put the cost much higher.

“The AMA recommends that the initial focus of a national obesity strategy should be on children and adolescents, with prevention and early intervention starting with the pregnant mother and the fetus, and continuing through infancy and childhood.

“We are urging the Federal Government to lead a national strategy that encompasses physical activity; nutritional measures; targeted interventions, community-based programs, research, and monitoring; and treatment and management.

“Governments at all levels must employ their full range of policy, regulatory, and financial instruments to modify the behaviours and social practices that promote and sustain obesity.